Time Off

Because we always take a day off around Restoration, usually the week around Thanksgiving ends up being a one or two-day work week. I took personal time off in an attempt to give myself a mini-vacation. Of course, between one work errand on Monday, and a Council of Governments informal meeting on Wednesday, plus that I for the first time ended up hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at my house, the time off I hoped for was chiseled away at somewhat. As somebody pointed out to me, it almost takes discipline just to really take time off from this job. No checking email, no phone calls to the office, no errands pertaining to work. I don’t know, I so often find myself going through work withdrawal, it doesn’t seem possible. But in an odd way, I guess that’s good. Once I stop caring enough to think about the Tribe, then something is really wrong.
For whoever is interested, cooking a Thanksgiving dinner was like time off, because food and drink will always be a hobby of mine and today seemed like a perfect opportunity to experiment. Good thing my visitors were open-minded. I tried a molasses cranberry glaze for my 22-lbs. bird, stuffed with chorizo-celery stuffing. For a vegetarian guest I prepared fried polenta (had to keep corn in the mix) with mascarpone and olive sauce. My significant other made fried potato cakes laced with chives and diced bacon in place of mashed spuds. About the only thing generic was brown gravy. I don’t really know why I’m writing this, other than to say that times like these remind me how important it is for one to have the occasional creative outlet. My guests sure seemed to like it, as we sent home a lot of food.
Speaking of creative…

Films:

“Beowulf” (2007)

I find this very interesting that Robert Zemeckis would follow up “The Polar Express” with an animated movie that is really quite violent, and at times, sexual. But he did, and I must say that this is actually a very fun film to see. For one, the story of Beowulf has always been one that fascinated me, enough that where I’ve gone on to Amazon to order the full-length translation in print right after seeing this. Two, animation doesn’t always have to be for kids. There are probably plenty of old tales from throughout the world which could be brought to life in a similar manner. Beowulf is good enough to where you feel removed from the real world, transported to old Scandinavia. The story as presented here has a lot of depth, and the characters are all very flawed, which to me is important because you don’t always see that in mythological heroes, at least not in the glossed over versions we read about in grade school. This film probably isn’t for everybody, but if you like a good story, and a little joking around, this film does the job.

Books:

“Grendel” (1971)

There are not very many books that I have kept, much less read more than once. This novel written by John Gardner is the 1970’s is how I know the old story best. On top of that, it is I think one of the best books I’ve ever read. Gardner basically tells the old tale of Beowulf and Grendel from the monster’s point of view. Beowulf himself doesn’t come along until late in the story, and is never mentioned by name. He is just a mysterious stranger that for some reason strikes fear into Grendel’s heart. Most of the story is Grendel harassing Hrothgar and Unferth, and in general trying to pass the time. I wouldn’t know what it’s like to be in the mind of a literal monster, but for some reason I can’t help but think that this has to be pretty close. You actually come to appreciate Grendel despite that he is evil, cruel, and psychotic. More importantly you come to appreciate a writer’s skill to take an old folktale and make it seem so real.